CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

 

Thanks to Deck’s generous gifts and the tip on the furniture store closeout I was able to get most of what we needed for the apartment. 

Moving in here turned out to be bittersweet though. Signing that lease was a big confirmation that things were looking up but I’d been picturing Tristan being with us.  The first night here when it was just Brecken and me, I was really hit hard by the thought that Tristan may never see this place.  

The Gentrys continued to be a godsend.  I didn’t know how I’d accumulated enough good karma to be folded into their inner circle but I was thankful, especially for Brecken’s sake.  Saylor was still picking him up from summer school and letting him hang out at the house all afternoon so he wouldn’t have to be alone here until I was finished with work.  Of course Brecken was old enough to be on his own for hours at a time but I was glad he didn’t have to be.  He’d lost a lot this year and being in the company of a loving family made up for that at least a little.  Saylor would never take no for an answer when a dinner invitation was extended so I was still sitting at their table almost every evening.  I was happy to accept.  Not only did I genuinely like being around Cord and Saylor but usually Cassie was there too. 

Cassie. 

Every time she walked into a room my day got better.  I thought about her all the time, wanted her all the time.  When we first met I sure as hell hadn’t been looking to get involved with anyone.  I’d already decided the boys were the only huge priority I could fit into my life.  And I was never one to keep girlfriends anyway so I didn’t even want one. Even if I had I certainly wouldn’t have been looking to take a chance with the boss’s daughter. 

But that was before I got to know Cassie Gentry.   

Not that I’d done anything about it lately.  I wasn’t even sure I should.  She was still dealing with the aftermath of a terrifying attack. As much as I wanted her to fall into my arms, it couldn’t be because of gratitude or a need for security.  I didn’t require any reward.  I’d be watching out for her for matter what.  And I was her friend no matter what.   

When Saturday evening rolled around I was sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through books.  If anyone had told me I’d be using my day off to read about American History I would have scoffed.  Even though I was determined to make a dent in the material tonight I was still glad to put it down when the doorbell rang. 

I was even happier when I saw who was on the other side of the door. 

“You shaved,” she said with some surprise when I opened up.  My hand immediately touched my smooth jaw. I hadn’t been totally clean shaven in years but this morning I was looking in the mirror and decided my scruffy look could use a little bit of revision. 

“Yup. I shaved.” 

Cassie bit her lip.  “I didn’t mean to barge in. I guess I should have called.” She looked so fucking adorable and crazy hot at the same time with her blonde hair in a ponytail, cutoff shorts showing off her legs. I tried not to stare. 

“You don’t have to call,” I assured her, stepping aside so she could enter. I could feel myself grinning like a dumb bastard, just because she was here.  “My door is always open for you.” 

Cassie stepped inside and held up a big paper bag.  “From my mom.  She couldn’t resist sending over some food even though she just saw you guys last night.” 

“I appreciate it,” I said.  “Brecken’s in the middle of a growth spurt and all week he’s been eating everything as fast as I buy it.”  Our fingers brushed briefly when I took the bag from her. 

“Have a seat,” I offered.  “Since I actually own chairs and a sofa now.” 

I set the bag on the counter, thinking how much I liked this, being able to invite her into my place rather than having her see me as the charity case on her living room couch. 

“Where’s Brecken?” she asked, looking around. 

“He ran down to the corner store for some chips and a soda.”  I shrugged.  “It’s a nice neighborhood so I figured there was no harm in giving him a little bit of independence.” 

Cassie dropped her purse on the floor.  Instead of sitting down she hovered over the books spread out on the kitchen table.  “Are these yours?” 

“Yep, courtesy of your Uncle Chase.  I guess I’ve got to get cracking on the books if I want to pass the test and finally get my high school diploma.” 

“Curtis, that’s so great!” She looked so pleased you’d have thought I’d just gotten into Harvard. 

“It’s overdue,” I said.  “Thanks for the push though.” 

She grinned.  “Anytime you want another push just let me know.” 

Our eyes locked for a second.  I wondered what she saw in mine, if she guessed that her last statement had produced an instant series of dirty fantasies in my head.  Before I was tempted to act on a few of them right here and now I started unpacking the bag sent over by Saylor.  There were cookies and a casserole dish that I stuck in the fridge.  Brecken would probably be happy to gobble it up when he got home. 

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Cassie still hadn’t sat down.  She wandered into the kitchen, running her hand over the countertop.  Something was troubling her. 

“You okay?” I asked, leaning against the counter beside her. 

She stopped running her fingertips over the countertop and faced me.  “I told them, Curtis.” 

“Who?”

“My parents.  Well, first I went to see Cami earlier today and then I decided they needed to know too.”   She swallowed.  “It was hard.  They got so upset.  Of course my dad wanted to run out and castrate Parker Neely.  I had to promise him I was pursuing more legal options. My mom was beside herself.  She kept saying, ‘Why didn’t you tell us? Why did you try to deal with this alone?’  I explained that I thought I had a good reason, that I was only trying to spare them pain.”  She swallowed and played with the end of her ponytail.  “And I also told them I’d never felt alone.  Because of you.” 

“You’re not alone,” I promised her.  “Never.” 

That made her smile. “Curtis Mulligan, you turned out to be nothing like the callous jerk I thought you were at first.” 

“I believe you thought that because I told you that’s who I was,” I said, remembering that night in her bedroom when I figured the best thing I could do for her was to tell her I wasn’t good enough.

“It seems we were both wrong,” she said, looking at me with those blue eyes that had somehow staked an irrevocable claim on my heart when I wasn’t paying attention. 

I pivoted and stood in front of her, bracing my hands on the counter.  We were inches apart now.  The top of her head only reached my collarbone so she had to look up to see me. 

Her hand reached up and brushed against my cheek.  “I like this,” she whispered.  “I like seeing all of your face.” 

I was so fucking hard it was practically an emergency but I took the time to raise her hand to my lips and kiss the palm.  She smelled sweet, like butter and cookies.  I wanted to know if she tasted as sweet.  Another few seconds of being this close to her and nothing was going to stop me from finding out. 

Then a key fumbled in the front door lock and we moved in opposite directions so Brecken wouldn’t notice anything. 

“Cassie!” He was holding a giant soda cup and a bag of corn chips.  Brecken was always thrilled to see Cassie.  Sometimes I wondered if he even had a crush on her.  “I didn’t know you were coming over today.” 

“Yeah, I wanted to see the place now that you have all your furniture,” Cassie laughed. “And my mom sent over some food.” 

“Cool.”  Brecken dropped the bag of chips on the counter.  “I’m starving.” 

Cassie removed the casserole dish from the fridge and set it in the microwave.  Brecken bounced around like an eager puppy as she heated up the food. 

My phone started ringing so I retreated to my bedroom to answer it when I saw the caller was Deck. 

“What’s up?” I greeted him, wondering why he was calling at the dinner hour on a Saturday. 

He sounded tense.  “Curtis.  You know a guy named Tim Dietz?” 

I was instantly on alert.  “Yeah, down in Emblem. We were never the best of friends but I called him a few times and asked him to keep an eye out for Tristan. Why?” 

Deck sighed and told the story. A buddy of his owned The Dirty Cactus, a seedy bar down in Emblem. Per Deck’s request the owner had been asking around about Tristan.  Meanwhile, Dietz had run up quite a tab there and everyone knew he didn’t have two dimes to rub together so the orders were not to serve him anymore.  That’s when Dietz decided that it might be worth his while to break the news that Tristan Mulligan was now back in town and had joined a hell raising crew of bikers led by a man named Bastien. 

My stomach dropped.  “That’s bad news,” I said. 

“It is,” Deck agreed. 

“Is it as bad as I’m thinking?” 

He sighed.  “I know you’ll be remembering Bastien as one of the Rioters chiefs.” 

“Brutal son of a bitch.” 

“Still is.” 

“Thought he was still doing time for attempted murder?” 

“Someone on the parole board must have lost their minds.  He walked out of the cage two months ago.” 

I was still grappling with the unsettling news and what it all meant.  “There aren’t any Emblem Rioters, not anymore.” 

“Not the same ones. The old guard is mostly gone, except for Bastien and a few others, but you knew that. They don’t go by that name anymore.  They call themselves Emblem Evil and tend to sport ink with double E’s to advertise membership.” 

My mouth was dry. “How bad is it, Deck?  What are they involved in?”  

“Some small time stuff.  Reselling stolen electronics, running underground casinos around Emblem. They’re trying to get a piece of the meth trade though and that’ll catch the attention of the authorities.” 

“Fuck.” I balled my hand into a fist and thought of my little brother down there in that ugly world.  A shadow fell and I looked up to see Cassie peek into the room with a worried look on her face. I shook my head to let her know it wasn’t a good time and hopefully she got the message to keep Brecken away.

She nodded and left, closing the door to my bedroom. 

“You know where I can find him tonight?” I asked Deck. 

“I do.  But you’re not going down there alone. I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes.” 

Deck couldn’t be talked out of accompanying me.  There was no way in hell I could bring Brecken though.  If he knew what was going on he’d insist on tagging along.  That couldn’t happen, not when I had no fucking idea what we were walking into down there.  And I hated the thought that he’d be here alone tonight, waiting for me to return when I couldn’t even tell him where I was going. 

Cassie was in the kitchen with Brecken.  She was letting him show her some comic book thing he’d talked me into buying him.  Brecken was eating from the casserole dish while flipping the pages but Cassie looked up when I entered the room.  I held her gaze for a moment and silently asked her to go along with whatever I said next. 

“Hey, Breck,” I said with some forced cheer.  “Before you got home I’d been telling Cassie that it’s pretty boring around here this weekend since I keep sticking my face in those books to study for the GED.  She offered to take you back to her house until tomorrow.” 

Brecken looked at me and then at Cassie, searching for confirmation. 

“That’s right,” she said without missing a beat. “My mom and I were thinking you’d like to come help us pig out on junk food and have a Star Wars movie marathon.” 

Brecken was still watching me, no doubt puzzled about why I was looking to push him out the door in the middle of our first full weekend at the new apartment.  I smiled to let him know that there was nothing wrong, nothing at all. 

“Okay,” he said with a shrug. 

“Hurry up and pack,” Cassie urged.  “We’ll stop and get frozen yogurt along the way.” 

Brecken tossed his comic on the table and disappeared into his bedroom.  

“Thanks for that,” I murmured to Cassie, keeping an eye on the door to Brecken’s bedroom.

She touched my arm.  “What’s wrong?” 

“Tristan,” I explained.  “There’s been an update on his whereabouts so I have to go to down there, to Emblem.” 

“Alone?”

“Deck’s coming.  He insisted.” 

“Curtis-” she started to say but I didn’t give her time to finish.  I pulled her to me and kissed her hard.  Earlier I’d promised myself that if it came to this I would go slowly, that I’d show her I knew how to treat her right.  Now I just needed to feel her close, to get a brief taste of her before I faced the storm that awaited down in Emblem. Cassie’s mouth was hot and sweet and she kissed me with equal hunger.  I pushed my body against hers, grinding so that she’d feel what I really wanted even though in this moment all I could have was a fleeting taste of her lips.   

“Be careful,” she whispered when the kiss broke and then she pressed her soft cheek against my chest for an instant before I let her go. 

When Brecken emerged he had no idea what had just happened.  He joked that he didn’t think the day would come that he’d have to warn me not to study too hard and then he walked out the door ahead of Cassie.  She looked back at me one last time with her fingers touching her lips, like she was still feeling the echoes of that incredible kiss.  It suddenly occurred to me that it had been our first one.  I hadn’t kissed her the night we messed around in the backyard.  If I’d kissed her then I wouldn’t have been able to stop.  I’d only stopped now because I had to, even though it was the last thing I wanted.

Cassie closed the apartment door without another word while I sat down on the sofa to wait for Deck.